How Ginny Got Her Christmas Cheer
by Madame Wolf
Summary: Without Christmas Cheer, the holidays are pretty boring. When Ron has a Christmas Party at the Burrow, will Ginny manage to scrounge up enough Christmas Spirit to avoid being Scrooge, or even the Grinch?


**Disclaimer:** The characters and places belong to J.K Rowling and Warner Bros. Well done! Kudos to them!  
**Author's Note**: Hi, this fic is a bit out of it. I have decided not to upload any more projects unless they are finished, or at least done for the time being, so that's what's happening. This fic has (in order of appearance) Hermione/Ron, Remus/Ginny and Harry/Ron. Joy unto those who read it, and happy holidays! Thanks go to Mrs. Niles Crane and Colette for their awesomeness.

**How Ginny Got Her Christmas Cheer**

'It's snowing.' Harry called up the stairs.

'I know, Harry.' Hermione returned. 'At least we know the weatherman is telling the truth.' She appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in bulky winter clothing. Hermione Granger was not one to be turned into an ice cube. She walked down the stairs awkwardly, her attire both amusing and difficult to manoeuvre.

'Where's Ron?' He asked her when she had made it down in one piece.

'I'm not his keeper. I'm just his girlfriend.' Hermione shrugged, her eyes and hands occupied with a broken zipper. 'Can you help me with this?'

'Just a moment. Ron's about to be late for his own Christmas party. Ron!'

'Harry! I can't fix my zipper from this angle. Help me.'

'Harry? Have you seen my keys?' Ron called from the other room.

'Honestly, you two can't even breath without my directions!' He let out a breath of his own in exasperation and yanked Hermione's zip down. 'Your keys are in my hand, waiting for you to pick them up so we can all leave. Are you ready?'

'Oh, thanks mate. Yeah, sure. Just let me get my boots on.'

Hermione and Harry both groaned and found chairs on which to sit. Ron had difficulty tying his shoelaces, which was not to say that he was completely hopeless. It just meant that he failed kindergarten. After several minutes of half-muttered swear words, Ron appeared, red faced and ready to leave.

'Ready!' He announced, tapping his boots on the floor proudly.

'Brilliant!' Harry exclaimed, jumping to his feet and marching out the door.

Hermione followed Ron out the door, checking it was locked before catching up with them. 'Only you, Ron, could possibly be able to be late for your own Christmas party, being held down the road.'

'And only Hermione Granger would be able to finish top of her class and still have difficulties putting on her jacket.' Mr Potter said, tongue in cheek.

Ron threw a snowball at his back as if to defend his girlfriend's honour. 'Not so smart now that you have snow all over your coat, are you?'

Thus began a snowball brawl, which would have been a fight, had either of them been able to get back to their feet. Hermione raised her gaze skyward, although, being of such a scientific and boring mind, she did not believe in anything religious. Ron and Harry rolled about in the snow and ice, getting progressively wetter and not minding a bit. After several minutes of play, Mother Hermione told them to get up and keep walking.

'I won, though, right?' Ron asked.

* * *

'It's snowing.' 

'Very good, Professor. Next we'll move on to numbers and colours.'

Ginny Weasley, having become sufficiently cold to merit a trip to the fireplace, removed herself from the window and thawed out her hands in front of the flames. Her hands grew increasingly pinker and she soon smiled and clapped them together, glad to have feeling back into her fingers. It was her first Christmas out of Hogwarts, and so far she had done little more than make some biscuits and sing a few carols, both activities being forced on her by her mother. Some holiday it was turning out to be.

Her parents were setting up for the party both she and the Professor were expected to join. It was going to be Ron's Christmas party, just being held at the Burrow. Ron pleaded to not having enough space, but the house he shared with Harry and Hermione had ample room for partying.

'Penny for your thoughts?' Remus offered, turning away from the fascinating view of snowflakes falling down to earth.

'Pardon?' She replied, eyebrow lifting a scathing centimetre.

He half-shrugged. 'It's a Muggle saying. It just means that whatever you were thinking must have been quite important.'

Ginny allowed herself a smile. Whatever lack of Christmas spirit she was feeling should not be taken out on Remus, who was actually quite pleasant company. 'Well, it wasn't important enough to have wealth placed on it.'

'Doesn't matter, really. It's the, uh, thought that counts anyway.' Remus chuckled lightly and moved away from the window. 'You seem a little down. Not your usual…animated self.'

She sighed. 'That obvious?' Ginny sat down in her favourite chair, the well-worn and well-patched number that made every other member of her family uncomfortable. 'I just don't feel like celebrating Christmas.'

Remus took a seat as well, wincing as the wild spring caught him off-guard. 'None of us really feel like celebrating Christmas, Ginny. We are still recovering from a bloody war, and the reports are still coming in, telling us of more damage to repair. If you work in administration, like your mother and I do, then you would know the extent of it. We need something like Christmas to keep us sane. If we didn't, well…' he left it open, spreading his hands as if lost for words.

She nodded, but disagreed. 'We aren't celebrating, Professor,' it was a losing battle, getting her to call him by his first name. 'We are just pretending we are. Who has Christmas spirit these days?'

'I can't answer that one, I'm afraid, Ginny. There are still a few more hours until Christmas Day. Perhaps we will have one of those coveted Christmas miracles.' He smiled and patted her hand.

'Maybe.' Ginny conceded thoughtfully.

The doorbell rang, which startled her. Molly Weasley appeared from the kitchen, hands busy wiping themselves on her apron. 'Ginny dear, will you please answer the door. It should be your brother. It probably won't, but it should.' She disappeared back to her cooking.

'Excuse me, Remus.' Ginny murmured as she made her way past him and to the door. Upon opening it, she found Harry, Hermione and Ron, dripping wet from the snow and their cheeks flushed red. 'How nice of you to finally make it.' She said, leaning against the doorframe. 'You're lucky that Remus is the only early guest. Then again, he's been here since five.'

'Good to see you too, Gin.' Ron said, wrapping her in a soggy bear hug.

'Thanks, Ron.' She rolled her eyes and let them in, wiping away a stray droplet of water.

Remus had risen as he heard the doorbell, and he greeted the three entrants affectionately. He had always had a warm spot for them, and circumstances having been as they were, he knew the trio quite well. It was Ginny who he found most puzzling, and she was a puzzle he relished the idea of cracking. Uh, well, that is to say, he hoped he would find out why the young lady was so closed up.

'You look quite pale.' The woman in question remarked, once again making her way towards the fire, this time to do some impromptu dry cleaning.

'I'm actually quite thirsty. I think I'll see if I can find something to drink.' Remus muttered, turning and heading towards the . He needed something to straighten out his mind. He was here for some good, clean, PG fun. What he needed was some scotch or whiskey to keep him straight.

Molly and Arthur were in the kitchen, preparing food and drinks for the party. Molly was doing most of the preparing and Arthur was being distracted by making the punch. 'I'd really hate to be a bother, Molly…'

'Oh Remus! Would you mind putting this on the table? Thank you dear.' She pushed some crackers and dip into his hand and twirled him around like a ballerina so he faced the dining room. He accepted his chore and laid the snacks out on the table as ordered. His thirst was growing and his tongue could stick to the roof of his mouth if he so desired. His polite demeanour would have to take a back seat just so he could get a drink. What a night!

* * *

The doorbell rang in the distance, followed by Molly calling to her daughter to stop burning her jumper and to answer the door. Remus followed the voice and managed to find the punch bowl, left unattended as Arthur was lured away by the promise of Muggle Christmas presents. Remus drank deeply from his glass, sighed, and returned to the living room. The party was just getting started. 

'Hermione, I really wish you would take off the jacket. It is rather ungainly, if you don't mind me saying.'

'Oh Mum.' Ron said, stuffing his face full of crisps. 'Hermione's just put on a little weight, that's all. She's been scoffing down cakes and everything the last few weeks just because it's Christmas.' He smiled at two of his favourite ladies and patted Hermione's bulky stomach, not bulky due to weight, but by clothes. 'I think it's adorable. A little pot-belly.'

'Stop patting my stomach.' She said sternly. 'I'm planning on joining a gym as soon as Christmas break is over, Ron. Don't get too attached. It isn't going to be permanent.'

'Well, I for one think it's a shame.' Molly told her. 'I believe a woman should have a little extra padding. It makes her soft, and more feminine.'

Both Hermione and Ron nodded, thinking that Molly may be the tad bit biased when it came to "extra padding". 'I'll take your coat and you can help Mum finish the food.' Ron said and helped his girlfriend out of her jacket. Underneath, she was wearing two jumpers and her stomach seemed exaggerated rather than hidden.

On the way to the coat rack, Ron bumped into Harry, who hung on to him like he was the last lifeboat on the Titanic. 'Mate, I'm going to need my arm in the distant future.'

'Yeah, I know. I'm just nervous, yeah?'

Harry did look nervous. He had sweat beading on his forehead and upper lip. Even his hair looked especially jumpy, but that was how his hair usually looked, so they paid it no mind. 'Why are you worried? You know all the people I'm inviting. I'm actually beginning to wonder if it is my party any more. Between Hermione and you, you out-know me by at least four people.'

'Yeah, whatever. Look, Ron, d'you think Ginny'd go out with me, you know, after Christmas?'

Ron looked at his friend in disgust for a moment. 'I'm her brother!'

'Yeah, so?'

'So? So I know where she keeps her diary. Lemme put Hermione's coat on the rack and I'll get it for you.'

* * *

The party was in full swing, especially once the twins arrived, both dressed like Santa. They had brought presents for everyone, but had ordered the partygoers not to open them before midnight, lest they reap the rewards of impatience. It was all fun, games and chuckles until someone did get impatient and tried to open their present. The twins assured the guests that he would be able to father children, and he would regain use of his limbs in a matter of hours. 

Ginny had brightened up some since crisping her clothes, and mingled well for someone with such Christmas Cheer Deficiency as she. The youngest Weasley had come to the conclusion that Hermione's friends were the boring types, the dry ones, and the sort that wore ties all year 'round. Harry's friends were either members of the Order, old classmates or people that she already knew. Ron's friends were mostly of the mindless, boorish, annoying variety that hit on her and kept looking at her chest.

Remus had found the punch and made it back, in one piece no less. He had found himself on the wrong side of a Hermione conversation and was struggling to either stay afloat or awake. Perhaps saving a helpless creature would add to her Christmas Spirit Fund. Ginny walked over and tugged urgently at Remus' sleeve.

'Professor, I mean Remus, I need to talk to you.'

He gave her a relieved and thankful expression and then returned his gaze to Hermione. 'I'm sorry, Hermione. It must be important. We'll continue our conversation about variants in shoelace quality another time.' Remus smiled at me. 'Lead on, Miss Weasley.'

She drew him away from Hermione and into the throng of the merry crowd. 'Sorry for dragging you from that riveting conversation,' she said idly, 'but I am firmly against cruelty to animals, especially humans.'

'Where can I make a donation?' He joked, making her chuckle slightly. Ginny released his sleeve from her grip and made as if to leave. 'Uh, Ginny, I was just wondering, in relation to our conversation earlier, if you had re-found your excitement over Christmas?'

'No, I don't think I have.' She admitted. 'It's going to take more than fake Santas and punch and really awful holiday songs to make me fall in love with Christmas again. Maybe I need some sort of green and red underwear.'

'Interesting, but probably not practical.'

Ginny could not reply, mostly because she could see Hermione looking over at where they had stopped, a suspicious expression already on her face. 'She's on to us. Hide in the kitchen. I think my Mum had an awkward conversation with Hermione, because every time my mother comes out, she avoids her like the plague.'

No further argument was required, and Remus parted the crowd to reach the kitchen. Ginny prayed he would make it there in time because no one deserved to talk to Hermione at a party, and especially not at a Christmas party of all things. _Godspeed, Professor Lupin, Godspeed._

* * *

A bottle of scotch and half a diary later, Harry and Ron were both soused and enraged at the gall Ginny Weasley had, writing her true thoughts in her own journal. It mentioned nothing of being warm for the form of Harry, and actually said that he was better as a friend – almost like a brother. It was disgusting (How could she even _think_ of going out with someone she felt like a brother towards?), and the two drunken friends were going to let her know. 

Downstairs, the party was still buzzing, although most were getting quite sloshed due to "someone" spiking the punch, Pumpkin Juice and even the booze. The twins were suspiciously sober, sitting on the edge of their seat, waiting for the clock to strike twelve. Hermione was not-so-suspiciously sober and was playing all of her favourite music because no one was listening.

Ginny was playing with the olive in her martini, which she was not very fussed over, but there was no point arguing with a drunk barman. She heard Harry and Ron before she saw them, and when she saw them, she leapt to her feet to take her diary back from their claws. 'That's mine!'

'Ginny! How could you?' Ron asked her in a "quiet voice". His quiet voice was what others would call a "dull roar".

'That's my diary, Ron. Maybe I should be the one asking the questions?' She took the book from them and went back upstairs.

'I don't know about you, mate,' Harry said, 'but I don't think that worked out.'

'Oh, shut up.'

The clock Fred and George had been watching like hawks chimed midnight and they climbed on to the chairs they had been sitting on, excitement clear on their faces.

'Hear ye!' called Fred.

'Hear ye!' called George.

'It is twelve o'clock--,'

'--That means it's Christmas--'

'—And it's time to open some presents!'

The guests took a few moments to scrounge around for the half-forgotten gifts they had received at the beginning of the party, or near abouts. People started ripping open the wrapping paper, and then the exclamations began.

'Hey! Where's my present. There was nothing in here!'

'If I'd wanted air, I could have got that myself.'

'This is even worse than that framed picture of Snape I got last year.'

Instead of being completely insulted at the lack of appreciation towards their gifts, the twins tried unsuccessfully to cover grins and sly expression painted all over their faces. 'We are awfully sorry about this.' Fred managed to squeeze out.

'This is a huge mistake.'

'We will fix it right away.'

* * *

Ginny Weasley was quite unconcerned with the safety breach of her private thoughts. In fact, she was laughing to herself as she made her way back to her room. If there was one thing she could count on, it was the blind stupidity of Ron. Only Ron would believe that his sister would keep her diary within easy reach of him. Ginny Weasley was the most knowledgable person on the subject diaries. 

She placed her decoy diary on top of her wardrobe and then rubbed at her eyes to make them red, as if she had been crying. It was the best she could do without using salt or almost taking out an eyeball with a spell. Although she was expecting someone to comfort her, she was rather surprised when it turned out to be Lupin. Rather surprised, but not too surprised. He had, after all, been following her around like a cross between a shadow and a lost puppy.

'Hello, Professor. Can I help you?'

He looked incredibly uncomfortable in her room: the ceiling was lower than other parts of the house meaning he had to stoop a little, and the walls were covered in her teenage and childish obsessions. 'Uh, hi Miss Weasley. May I come in?'

'Sure.' She moved over on her bed to make space for him. 'Excuse the mess. I've been meaning to clean it up for the last nine years.' Remus took a seat on the opposite side, making the bed heave a little with his extra weight. 'What brings you to my abode?'

'It's mayhem down there. People are complaining about the gifts they were given by the twins. I can sense a food fight is only minutes away.'

'What's the matter with the presents?' Ginny asked, retrieving hers from her pocket. It felt fine and even rattled.

'I don't know, I didn't open mine.' She shrugged and started ripping the paper. Remus fumbled for his present, opened his, and shared her look of puzzlement, as he revealed absolutely nothing. 'There is something very fishy about this.'

Another raised eyebrow.

'Muggle comment. Sorry. I…uh… bought a book.' He looked sheepish.

'My brother's have something planned.' Ginny stood up, still holding the empty wrapping paper. Remus stood up too, feeling slightly silly sitting on the extremely girlie bed. 'I'll ask them to let me in on the secret.'

She began walking out the door, but he took a hold of her arm. 'I doubt they'd let you in on the secret, even if you did ask them very politely.'

Ginny shrugged her shoulders and opened the door, still attached to Remus, preparing to stride down the stairs. She did not get very far.

* * *

Downstairs, it was a very interesting sight. The twins had planned well, and had spent many hours working in their secret lab to come up with the perfect prank that would have just enough mischief and just enough good will to cover their backsides. The presents they had handed out earlier that night were their bundles of joy, and, as soon as opened, soon became the bundle of joy of the recipient. 

The Mistletoe Charm was quite simple.

The present was opened, and the person doing the unwrapping was annoyed and disillusioned to see that it was nothing more than a hoax. A finely crafted present of air. This was a lie. In two minutes, the charm would begin, making the recipient begin snogging the nearest person. A harmless and fun joke to play on the guests of Ron, Harry and Hermione.

The twins had never tried out the plan on such a large scale. They had taken the necessary precautions and invited some pretty girls who had been flirting with them in the pub to their lab to try out the new charm. Fred and George were not expecting to be mauled by charm affected guests. Neither complained.

Once the charm wore off (it was only powerful enough for one, really good kiss), the parties concerned blushed and disentangled themselves from the person they had just pashed. Hermione, realising she had just kissed her potential father-in-law, hid herself in the closet. Molly patted Colin Creevy on the head, quite dazed. Harry and Ron were too drunk, really, to care that they had just snogged each other, and did it again.

Everyone was embarrassed and silent, trying to make heads or tails of what had just happened. Their hush was disturbed immensely by Remus and Ginny rolling down the stairs, locked in each other's arms. All eyes were on the couple as they went through the motions of the charm. Seconds later, Ginny looked up from Remus' eyes and took in the crowd staring at them.

'Uh. Yes.' Remus said nervously. 'Ginny, perhaps you should get off me now.'

Miss Weasley carefully climbed off him and then got to her feet fluidly. 'That hurt more than it looked.' She finally said and walked out the door with quiet dignity.

A few moments afterwards, Remus was walking after her, struggling to put a coat over his arms. 'Ginny!' He called into the dark, and was startled to find her just outside the house. 'Are you OK?'

'Of course I am, Remus.' She said casually. Her eyes were sparkling and it was easy to see the Weasley's shared a lot of traits. 'Besides, if my mother's ranting is anything to go by, I should be an Aunt in a few months. Well. An Aunt _again_.'

He rolled his eyes. 'Before you saved me, Hermione told me about your mother. Apparently, Hermione's just fat.'

Ginny laughed, amused by the admission, and from the cloud of her breath in the air. It was frightfully cold, and she had left without anything warmer than a light jumper. To Remus, she looked frozen, so he took off the coat he had such difficulties with just a moment before and draped it across her shoulders. 'My, you _are_ the gentleman, aren't you?' She said.

'You haven't seen the half of it, yet.' He murmured.

Ginny turned to face him because she had only caught the last part of his sentence. Remus cupped her face in his hands and kissed her sweetly. He felt her lips curl up in a smile under his, and he drew back, so he could see her.

'Well, I don't know about you, but I am full of Christmas Cheer.'

'Oh, me too.'

'Shouldn't we go carolling now, or something.'

He looked around and made a face. 'I think kissing you again would be twice as much fun.'


End file.
